Over-Arching Question: How do we help our students become better storytellers?
Pre-Production Plan
The purpose of this unit is to teach our students to inform, entertain, and persuade depending on the type of video they are going to produce. In addition the unit plan gives students an intentional opportunity to use listening and speaking skills. The audience is teenagers in grades 9-12. The genre is an analysis of an advertisement or a short film. The key content is the student message (the public service announcement or film). Students have messages they want to get across. They want people to appreciate their message, and to find it clear and compelling. In addition, analysis of commercials and film will help students learn how to deconstruct media messages. It will also allow students to apply key vocabulary in a production world.
The values communicated by our unit plan is to show our students that we care that their voices are heard. My personal value and priority in this unit plan is ensure that students work more diligently on the pre-production process so that their stories are more fully developed. Students have a tendency to want to just grab a camera and go shoot without a good plan for their projects. There's a long history behind the development of this video class that starts with let's find equipment and learn how to use it. My skill level and my students' general knowledge when they come into the class is more advanced now and I want the stories behind their videos to be the priority now. The creative techniques include showing a personal connection by having the instructor's face appear on the screen of the screencast. In addition, the vocabulary document is embedded to show exactly how it should be filled out. Both of these techniques help to model the "Think Aloud process." We chose a humorous and short commercial in order to articulate the lesson message.
Instructional Plan
Learners: TV/Video Production Students - High School Grades 9-12
Self: Kara Clayton - Media Studies Educator, Thurston High School, Redford MI. Ed McDonough - Television Production Teacher, Canton High School, Canton, MA.
Context: Scriptwriting and Storytelling
Community: High School Students Grades 9-12
PURPOSE
SWBAT:
Use a story arc to tell a story that has a beginning, middle and end which will be incorporated into their video project.
Clearly communicate to others what their story is about.
Collaborate with peers to work through difficulties they encounter with technology as it relates to their story telling.
How do I provide structure for students to become better storytellers?
Why is the best way to tell story telling? After teaching for 18 and 30 years each, we know that just talking about a story and telling students to create one, does not work well. We have found that students are often lacking various components of the story due to lack of planning. Our approach scaffolds the story telling process by asking students to systematically step through the pre-writing process through viewing, practicing the use of professional vocabulary and writing a story that follows a prescriptive story arc.
Standards:
ISTE Standards: 1. Creativity and Innovation Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology. a. Apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes b. Create original works as a means of personal or group expression
2. Communication and Collaboration Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others.
Interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media
Communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats
Common Core Standards: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.1b Work with peers to promote civil, democratic discussions and decision-making, set clear goals and deadlines, and establish individual roles as needed.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.1c Propel conversations by posing and responding to questions that probe reasoning and evidence; ensure a hearing for a full range of positions on a topic or issue; clarify, verify, or challenge ideas and conclusions; and promote divergent and creative perspectives.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.11-12.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.11-12.7 Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
TASK/ACTIVITY: How do I provide structure for students to become better storytellers?
Overview: This is a 7-8 day unit. Students will go through pre-production, production, post-production and critique. The final project is a video project (commercial, PSA or short film) that has a well-developed story line.
Our final learning product for the Institute is to have students get through the pre-writing process by completing a Mindmeister and to have it assessed by the instructor who will use Goodnote in order to provide rapid, paperless, feedback. After the Mindmeister is approved, students will move onto the script writing process. We feel that if we give the students a solid foundation for how stories are created and what makes a good story, they will have more success creating their own stories that won't leave the viewer wondering, "Huh? What just happened?" We have made the story development and writing process a transparent and explicit technique.
Day #1
Create a narrative story outline that shows the transformation of a character. This is a pre-production step for a video project. Start with the key vocabulary.
Model--Watch Screencast-O-Matic of Jeep Animals Singing Instructor does a think aloud which models how to learn the key vocabulary.
Watch Cat Commercial. Student practice to aid in listening and speaking skills and apply knowledge of the key vocabulary. This will take place through student creation of a screencast-o-matic. Students do a screencast-o-matic to apply their knowledge of the vocabulary termsas they watch the cat commercial. They email their screencast to their instructors. A rubric will be provided. Students will also be provided with sentence starters in order to engage in a professional conversation.
Rewatch the short story about the man who wants to go out and get pizza. This begins at 3:36. You will work with a partner to fill out the Plot Points Mindmeister. This activity will allow students to apply their new vocabulary knowledge as they begin the writing process. A rubric will be provided. Students will also be provided with sentence starters in order to engage in a professional conversation.
Rewatch "The Lonely Superhero" within "Writer's Block"that starts at 5:40. This has all of the Story Plot Points needed for a "good" story. While watching this video, notice the time and care taken so that each shot is composed well. Every part of the shot is intentional.
Now it's time for you to write a script outline as well as a script. You will be shooting this script later this week. The video can be in the form of an advertisement, a public service announcement or a second short film..
Start your own brainstorming process for YOUR story by identifying everything you can about your character. Students will do this by thoroughly answering each of the questions.
1. WHO AM I? (All the details about your character including name, age, address, relatives, likes, dislikes, hobbies, career, description of physical traits, opinions, beliefs, religion, education, origins, enemies, loved ones, sociological influences, etc.)
2. WHAT TIME IS IT? (Century, season, year, day, minute, significance of time)
3. WHERE AM I? (Country, city, neighborhood, home, room, area of room)
4. WHAT SURROUNDS ME? (Animate and inanimate objects-complete details of environment)
5. WHAT ARE THE GIVEN CIRCUMSTANCES? (Past, present, future and all of the events)
6. WHAT IS MY RELATIONSHIP? (Relation to total events, other characters, and to things)
7. WHAT DO I WANT? (Character's need. The immediate and main objective)
8. WHAT IS IN MY WAY? (The obstacles which prevent character from getting his/her need)
9. WHAT DO I DO TO GET WHAT I WANT? (The action: physical and verbal, also-action verbs)
A two column script is the next step. It's purpose is to identify each shot and all audio elements that will be seen and heard in your final video. You will use the Mindmeister you just completed to guide you in the script writing process.
Script needs to include:
an establishing shot to set the scene
a minimum of 4 close-ups
a reaction shot from one of the characters (could be an OS, but not necessary)
There needs to be some audio on each shot. This could be in the form of SFX, Music, VO, or narration, or any combination thereof.
Shots should change every 2-3 seconds (10-15 shots are needed for the script)
Script needs to 25-30 seconds long
A rubric will be provided for all students for the script writing process.
Script must be saved as a pdf and emailed to instructor for feedback
Instructor will use Goodnotes to provide feedback to the students.
Days #5 - #7
Using an app like Animoto or Viddy, follow your script and shoot your video in sequence. This video will be viewed and critiqued by your classmates and the instructor.
Your video should match your two column script.
Video should be uploaded to class website or youtube for critique by other people in the class in the form of a screencast-o-matic. A rubric will be provided. Students will also be provided with sentence starters in order to engage in a professional conversation.
A critique form matched closely to the vocabulary terms form will be provided to each critic.
CONTENT
Texts: Students will look at video examples which show good story development:
An iPad for the instructor with Goodnote installed.
Gmail Accounts for instructor and students.
Video recording devices for each group of two.
PEDAGOGY
Instructional Strategies
There is no lecture in this lesson plan. Thus, information is gained through a collaborative process utilizing class discussion, and small groups.
Building Vocabulary through advertising analysis. This is done through full group instruction as a short lecture, then end in pairs at each level of practice then move into pairs.
Sentence starters and professional vocabulary
Understanding story arc through film viewing. This is done with full group modeling. Students will work in pairs for semi-independent practice.
Pre-Writing - Brainstorming through the use of a graphic organizer. If there enough devices in the room, we suggest that this process be done in pairs.
Using a digital graphic organizer (Mindmeister)
Enhancing writing skills incorporating professional vocabulary through script writing. This will be done by working in pairs.
Reflection
3-2-1
Three things you learned, two things you need to know and one thing you are able to share
Peer Critique
ASSESSMENT
Student Work Products: Completed Mindmeisters Screencast Critiques Script Video
1.Describe some of the digital literacies that you learned about this week. What did you know about these topics before the week began and how have this week’s experiences contributed to your understanding of these digital literacies?
The Summer Institute in Digital Literacy provided me with the opportunity to work with many new tools and find ways to integrate them into the media literacy and media production courses that I teach. Hiller Spires sessions using Animoto, and Screencast O-Matic, and learning how to use Storify during one of the Digging Deeper sessions led by Rhys Daunic were completely new to me. I found that they were tools that I used throughout the school year that enhanced my instruction as well as engaged students in learning.
I teach video editing in two of my upper level courses and we use industry standard editing software that is time consuming to learn. What I loved about Animoto is that I was able to provide some hands-on projects to my media literacy students—a class which does not include video editing instruction—that allowed them to do a little bit of editing. Prior to attending the Institute, the culminating project was a paper, paste and markers project. Animoto let us take it a step further by providing a tool to produce final projects that were so much more robust than prior iterations of this unit.
Screencast O-Matic (S.O.M.) was an incredibly helpful tool that I knew very little about. Some of my colleagues do screencasts for their subjects, but the applications they used seemed very cumbersome and platform specific. I used this tool frequently when I needed to have students refer various editing conventions/techniques when using Final Cut Pro to edit their videos. The completed S.O.M. allowed students to follow my instructions while they edited their own video. Most importantly, they were able to stop and start the screencast and follow along at their own pace. The result was a decrease in the need to re-teach a step in the technical process, giving me more time to work with students on how to tell their story.
See the example of the S.O.M. I created for my class this past school year.
The other digital tool that I really enjoyed learning about was Storify. This was brand new to me and because I love using social media, it was fun to be able to leverage an often forbidden resource for educational research. During the first semester following the Institute, Storify was available in my classroom. Second semester, this was not the case. It was locked down by our district IT department because it is classified as social media—which our district does allow students to access from school. With some prodding, I was able to get it opened up in my classroom. Additionally, there is a stigma with using Storify in the classroom that I would like to be able to remove. Several media specialists that I shared this application with were horrified that I would recommend Storify as a research application because they thought students would not find credible resources for their research. I’d like to work on ways to use my leadership skills to gently prod people to understand and accept its value. (Please reference the article that I wrote on Storify for JAAL for more information on how Storify was used in my classroom.)
After learning about various digital tools, I am excited about students having a level playing field for learning and expression of their ideas. Digital tools provide a way to differentiate learning for our students. Because students are plugged in, it makes complete sense to play to their interests. If we allow students to use tools to express through writing or voice (like in Voki) or to curate a collection of materials for a research project using curation tools like Storify and others, instead of writing on index cards and filing (and losing) them, educators have a chance to re-engage students in the learning process.
2.Now that you’ve had this professional development experience, how are you defining “digital literacy?”
We began the professional development with Renee Hobbs discussion about the timeline/historical perspective various literacies such as Information Literacy, Media Literacy and the recent introduction of Digital Literacy. While different eras brought with them different titles, in the end it all boils down to LITERACY. My personal definition of “Digital Literacy” is using digital tools to enhance and engage students in learning. When my son got his first cell phone in 5th or 6th grade, he was looking for the “cool factor” when it came to a phone because the type of phone was a status symbol for him. For his first phone purchased around 2005, the purpose of the phone was to contact my husband or me in case of an emergency. Period. We did not purchase the coolest phone of the day for him. The stated reason behind this was, “a cell phone is a tool NOT a toy.” My son heard this sentence a lot as new phones came and went and I started using this phrase in my classroom this year as well. Most of my students have smart phones, but they do not know how leverage their power. They definitely know how to text and post photos on Instagram, but they don’t know how to type a message into their notes application and share it to me as an email or to a classroom sharing site. I want students to use their digital devices to get beyond the idea of texting their friends on the sneak, and really tap into, and enjoy learning with the help of a tool that fits into their hands.
3. ”What is your personal perspective on digital literacyand how has your definition changed or evolved this week? Where possible, make specific connections to readings, conversations, presentations, or activities that were especially important to the evolution of your definition of digital literacy.
As a high school media literacy and media production teacher who supports literacy efforts across the curriculum in my school, my perspective on digital literacy has evolved regarding how to teach reading comprehension. Having been trained in Reading Apprenticeship, I was excited to read, Talking About Reading as Thinking: Modeling the Hidden Complexities of Online Reading Comprehension. I have worked with Talking To The Text (T4) and Think Alouds with print materials, but knew something was missing with the assumption that students could simply jump from print to digital text without any additional reading strategies to aid with reading comprehension. “A reader’s level of metacognitive awareness about which strategies are best suited to locate, critically evaluate, and synthesize diverse online texts is likely to foster a deeper understanding of the texts they encounter on the Internet” (Coiro, 2011). Students STILL must be able to comprehend challenging text, find useful search engine results, and synthesize their findings regardless of the digital tools that are available to them. Writing and reading competency requirements have not changed. In fact, they’ve become more demanding. As educators, we cannot allow the glitz and glamour of a “cool tool” to substitute for core instruction.
Learning about free and easy video editing programs such as Animoto allowed me to create opportunities for student collaboration students in the creation of media messages. My media classes are generally comprised of 9th through 12th grade students whose ability ranges from low functioning cognitively impaired students to students who take AP and honors courses. I have found that digital media often puts all students on a level playing field. “In the classroom, expertise was distributed across students, the teacher, outside experts, and online resources” (Spires, 2012). In my classroom, I tell the students, “They are to play to each other’s strengths.”
Finally, the steps that are proposed by Hobbs in her article, Digital and Media Literacy: A Plan of Action excite me! My work in media literacy since 1995 has always included “Essential Competencies of Digital and Media Literacy.” Clearly, Hobbs has a passion for the subject and has high hopes for field of Digital and Media Literacy. It is hard not to get excited about the ideas she proposed and wonder what I can do to help fulfill her recommendations beyond what is offered in my school. I want to be part of something bigger with South Redford School District looked at as a model district for others to follow in this area.
4.How do digital literacies affect the way you think aboutacademic content? Describe an example of how some specific academic content is affected by changes in the ways we read, write and think with digital media texts, tools & technologies.
It is important for educators to understand that digital media texts, tools, and technologies are, very simply, additions to an educator’s toolbox. One can have the newest and greatest power tool, but if one does not have the skill to use it, or have a good plan in mind for how to use it, the tool’s effectiveness is limited. According to the TPACK model presented by Harris and Hofer, sound lesson design must include all of the steps that I learned in education courses more than 20 years ago. It must include, “practical pedagogical decisions about the nature of the learning experience, be sequenced appropriately and include activity types to form the learning experience, include formative and summative assessment strategies, and the selection of tools and resources that will help students to benefit from the learning experience being planned” (Harris, J., & Hofer, M., 2009). The use of technology is the last step in the lesson design and it is done to enhance learning. As a media literacy teacher, I looked for ways to add technology into lessons that I had already designed. Specifically, I looked for ways to move away from things like creating a collage with magazine clippings and glue and poster board, to an activity that could achieve the same learning objective with the use of technology instead. And, when technology in our district was functioning, this worked out well. When technology was not functioning, I resorted to the tried and true method of markers, crayons, paper and scissors. In both instances, I was still teaching to the standards and meeting the lesson objectives that were necessary in order to move onto the next unit of learning. Although I use digital tools on a regular basis, the use of digital tools has not changed the content of the course. There are still underlying fundamentals of the course that must be taught. The use of digital tools has enhanced the way the instruction is delivered and the types of projects that are created within and at the end of each unit.
5. How do digital literacies affect teaching practices? Whatoverarching considerations must teachers give, in general, to the interactions of digital literacies and how to teach?
Digital literacies “attempt to bridge a gap by helping teachers and students to connect tools with challenging, meaningful content” (Spires, 2012). “The inclusion of digital and media literacy in formal education can be a bridge across digital divides and cultural enclaves, a way to energize learners and make connections across subject areas, and a means for providing more equal opportunities in digital environments” (Hobbs, 2010). One of the positive aspects of this learning paradigm is that because students are so connected to media, they can now use some of these media tools and this often provides for engagement that had not previously been there with traditional paper and pencil tasks. On the one hand, if done properly, time on task and higher order thinking should increase. On the other hand, if a teacher relies too heavily on the tool without taking into consideration learning standards for the area of study, digital literacy tools can become just another distraction in the classroom. Finally, as we continue to face impoverished students and districts, we need to be careful that we do not broaden the digital divide. Even in 2014, there are many schools that lack up-to-date technology, or even Internet access.
Now, focus on your own pedagogical practice. How will your new understanding of digital literacy affect the way you teach? Describe an example of how you will differently employ a specific teaching practice in your own context as a result of what you learned this week.
My own understanding of digital literacy definitely evolved over the week and my experience at the Institute transformed the way I approached my lesson design in all of my classes. Throughout the year, I purposefully looked for ways to add technology to various lessons to help engage students and to enhance learning. I also loved that many tools made my job a bit easier in the long run especially when working with various skills in video editing. The initial teaching was the same, or maybe even a bit more time consuming because I needed to pre-produce materials/models/exemplars, but in the end, I did not have to do as much individual re-teaching that I normally found myself doing. My approach was to pre-produce a lesson using the digital tool and then post it on my wiki. If a student missed instruction, or needed to review instruction, everything for the lesson was available to them to work with at their own pace. Screencast O-matic is one of the tools that really helped to improve my teaching. By creating mini-editing videos for students to use at their own pace, my instruction was more focused on producing video projects with higher production value. Storify is another example of something that I used with intention. My students LOVED…and I mean LOVED the research project that did on alcohol messages in the media using Storify as a curating tool.
Storify Collaboration with Media Analysis Students
6. During the week, you were introduced to several concerns and promising practices around digital literacy, digital pedagogy, social networking, and student voice that are circulating among communities of educators, librarians, and youth media specialists. From your perspective, what promising practices show the most potential? Which specific concerns are most pressing? What key takeaways will you champion in your own work setting(s) so that together, you and your colleagues can (a) implement promising practices and (b) address issues of concern?
The week provided me with an opportunity to think strategically about how I would handle the benefits and concerns of using digital tools in my classroom in the South Redford School District. What I realized after the Institute was that our district was not meeting needs of 21st century learners because district technology (not the video equipment in my studio) which included Internet, servers, student and teacher workstations in labs and in classrooms were old and could not keep up with demand and an increase in class size. As an example, we were still running Office 2003 when I returned in the Fall and promises for upgrades that had been made were not fulfilled. This caused us to not only not make progress, but actually put us further behind than when we had left school in June 2013. I have a feeling we lost enrollment as well because other schools—particularly charter schools in the area—were advertising a free iPad if students enrolled in their school. While I could write a book on the trials and tribulations of South Redford’s technology woes that we encountered last year, I can whittle down our progress that moved us toward promising practices to a few key steps: 1. Every level of educator in our district complained vehemently to our superintendent and board members about how bad things had become. We wrote letters, we attended board meetings, we brought the topic of technology up in small and large department meetings and finally, in late November, we were heard. Personnel changes took place, progress in terms of hiring outside consultants and brilliant IT happened quickly, and district-wide wireless Internet access was installed. All of these things allowed for the use of technology in the classroom to take place at a basic, yet consistent level. 2. A district technology committee was formed that included K-12 teachers and media specialists. The teachers were not all technology teachers, but teachers who were proven technology users and advocates in their respective buildings. I have not seen the final charge for our committee yet, but I do know that there will be a shifting of media specialist responsibilities, and technology coaches will be hired and in place by September 2014 in order to help teachers plan lessons that include technology activities. 3. Technology purchases are now being made with educationally sound decision making in place. TEACHERS are being consulted on what purchases make sense and which do not because they are just trendy. This is a HUGE change for our district from the past six years.
7. Consider the list of readings assigned for this course. Briefly summarize 1-2 key insights you gleaned from each cluster of readings. How do you see these insights connecting with ideas and experiences shared during the Institute (especially the Keynote and Digging Deeper Sessions)? If you are a classroom teacher, what connections do you see among the readings themselves and to your experiences during the Institute or in your own work setting?
Digital Literacies in Context Both Rushkoff and Turkle bring up issues that I had thought of briefly prior to the Institute, but had not really expanded on in terms of educational implications. Rushkoff says, “We have a completely new relationship to time; we live in an always-on ‘now’ where the priorities of this moment seem to be everything” (Rushkoff, 2013). In his interview on the Cobert Report, Rushkoff elaborated saying, “Digital access causes people to live in perpetual states of emergency” (http://www.rushkoff.com/blog/2013/5/12/present-shock-blows-stephen-colberts-mind-1.html). In Turkle’s Connected But Not Alone presentation, she talked about how digital tools, “Allow us to present ourselves as we want to be. We get to edit. We get to delete” (Turkle, 2012). These two perspectives led me to think about how I need to work more with my students on time and place appropriateness of technology. It is why I also demand that students learn how to have conversations with each other that are face to face. I tell them that when they go for a job interview, more than likely they will not be using text speak to communicate their answers to their prospective employer. This is another reason I invite community leaders into my classroom to hold mock interviews with my students. Students tell me that this is often the most difficult conversation they have ever had. Unfortunately, I think that sometimes it’s the only true conversation they’ve had during that particular day. During the Institute, one of the participants tweeted something that rang home to me. He asked why people were on their social media accounts at the time they were supposed to be learning about digital technology in the Institute. Guilty!! It did make me think more about being centrally focused on the present. I still have a long way to go in that department, but at least I recognize that it is an issue for me.
Generating Questions to Energize Digital Inquiry - “The act of questioning is central to thinking, to storing and communicating knowledge, even to several important types of interaction” (Bowker, 2010). Since 1995, I have taught media literacy courses. The underlying foundation for this course is The Five Key Questions and Concepts of Media Literacy developed by the Center for Media Literacy (http://www.medialit.org/sites/default/files/14B_CCKQPoster+5essays.pdf).
In fact, the questions are so important to what I believe is the successful study of media messages that I had a student paint them as border in my classroom.
By modeling how to ask good questions, and slowly releasing students to ask their own good questions, students are learning to become independent thinkers. One of the questions I had when reading Bowker’s article was, “Is it possible that students have trouble making inferences as a reading comprehension strategy is because they have not had the opportunity to question?” Rhys and Hiller presented a Digging Deeper session where we were using digital tools to delve deeper into various current political issues. Our task was to answer a question they gave to us. I collaborated with a group on the question, “How has the U.S. has contributed to the drug trade in Mexico?” Through our research, we found many good answers to this question. Many. Not one. Because of this type of question, we were able to find a wide variety of perspectives and history on our topic. One way that I can help students to ask more questions is to intentionally embed opportunities for them to ask more questions. I see this happening through group discussions and/or individual research opportunities on various topics. Following Rhys and Hiller's model, students might be provided with one question, and then after their own research, they would be asked to generate questions of their own.
Instructional Strategies – The collection of articles in this section looked at literacy and instruction from different perspectives that all returned to the same basic tenet: Instruction has to be designed with purpose, it needs to include the use of print and digital texts, and it should be engaging to students. One of the questions that came up for me here was, “Why do we need to ‘engage’ our students? This word is used far more now—in the digital age—than it was 10 or 20 years ago.” I believe that there are several answers to this question. First, we have moved beyond the ‘drill and kill’ style of education. Second, I do not believe that students are quite as complacent as they were 20 or more years ago. Third, they are so connected to digital technology and the need to be entertained, that engagement and entertainment can often be synonymous. Finally, engagement leads to a higher level of learning that goes far beyond drill and kill; lessons are planned with intention, lessons are planned with strategies to help with comprehension and understanding, and lessons are planned with the use of technology (like video), to help students broaden their depth of understanding about a topic.
Next Steps - In her white paper, Digital and Media Literacy: A Plan of Action Hobbs states, “Such ubiquitous and easy access to so many information and entertainment choices requires that people acquire new knowledge and skills in order to make wise and responsible decisions. For people to achieve the personal, professional and social benefits of thriving in a digital age, these skills are not optional or desirable—they are the essential elements of digital citizenship” (Hobbs, 2010). I agree with this statement wholeheartedly. In addition, I am ready to jump on the part of the digital and media literacy bandwagon that works on “developing online measures of media and digital literacy to assess learning progression” (Hobbs, 2010). This is an area that is important to me as a media educator, but also because currently 25% of my yearly evaluation (soon to be 40%), relies on showing student growth. I am completely okay with showing pre and post-test data to show growth, but I would like for the assessment measure to be valid. Simply giving the final exam as a pre-test measure and a post-test measure is not enough. I would like to be able to pull from a variety of online measures that have been approved by ISTE to show student growth in my classroom. Sign me up!
8. If you had one more day in the Institute, what would you like to learn more about and why? How will you leverage your professional learning network and your new digital literacies to explore your remaining questions over the coming year?
If I had one more day at the Institute, I would like to spend the day revisiting some of the Cool Tool sessions that I attended that I did not fully understand, or had questions about. Symbaloo, for example, is a tool I would like to use more in my school. I would love to have a Symbaloo posted on our school website that shows images of all of our staff and links to their websites. I could use some more tutoring in that area. Another thing that I would enjoy doing is spending more time talking with the other participants at the Institute. I found that by mid-week, we had all found our partner and table group to talk with, but did not have time to socialize with and learn from the other 50 participants. On the other hand, though, I was exhausted by Friday and was on information overload. Another day at the Institute could have been a mixed bag for a variety of reasons.
Over-Arching Question: How do we help our students become better storytellers?
Pre-Production Plan
The purpose of this unit is to teach our students to inform, entertain, and persuade depending on the type of video
they are going to produce. In addition the unit plan gives students an intentional opportunity to use listening and speaking skills.
The audience is teenagers in grades 9-12.
The genre is an analysis of an advertisement or a short film.
The key content is the student message (the public service announcement or film). Students have messages they want to get across. They want people to appreciate their message, and to find it clear and compelling. In addition,
analysis of commercials and film will help students learn how to deconstruct media messages. It will also allow students to apply key vocabulary in a production world.
The values communicated by our unit plan is to show our students that we care that their voices are heard. My personal value and priority in this unit plan is ensure that students work more diligently on the pre-production process so that their stories are more fully developed. Students have a tendency to want to just grab a camera and go shoot without a good plan for their projects. There's a long history behind the development of this video class that starts with let's find equipment and learn how to use it. My skill level and my students' general knowledge when they come into the class is more advanced now and I want the stories behind their videos to be the priority now.
The creative techniques include showing a personal connection by having the instructor's face appear on the screen of the screencast. In addition, the vocabulary document is embedded to show exactly how it should be filled out. Both of these techniques help to model the "Think Aloud process." We chose a humorous and short commercial in order to articulate the lesson message.
Instructional Plan
Learners: TV/Video Production Students - High School Grades 9-12
Self: Kara Clayton - Media Studies Educator, Thurston High School, Redford MI. Ed McDonough - Television Production Teacher, Canton High School, Canton, MA.Context: Scriptwriting and Storytelling
Community: High School Students Grades 9-12
PURPOSE
SWBAT:How do I provide structure for students to become better storytellers?
Why is the best way to tell story telling?After teaching for 18 and 30 years each, we know that just talking about a story and telling students to create one, does not work well. We have found that students are often lacking various components of the story due to lack of planning. Our approach scaffolds the story telling process by asking students to systematically step through the pre-writing process through viewing, practicing the use of professional vocabulary and writing a story that follows a prescriptive story arc.
Standards:
ISTE Standards:1. Creativity and Innovation
Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology.
a. Apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes
b. Create original works as a means of personal or group expression
2. Communication and Collaboration
Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others.
Common Core Standards:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.1b Work with peers to promote civil, democratic discussions and decision-making, set clear goals and deadlines, and establish individual roles as needed.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.1c Propel conversations by posing and responding to questions that probe reasoning and evidence; ensure a hearing for a full range of positions on a topic or issue; clarify, verify, or challenge ideas and conclusions; and promote divergent and creative perspectives.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.11-12.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.11-12.7 Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
TASK/ACTIVITY: How do I provide structure for students to become better storytellers?
Overview:This is a 7-8 day unit. Students will go through pre-production, production, post-production and critique. The final project is a video project (commercial, PSA or short film) that has a well-developed story line.
Our final learning product for the Institute is to have students get through the pre-writing process by completing a Mindmeister and to have it assessed by the instructor who will use Goodnote in order to provide rapid, paperless, feedback. After the Mindmeister is approved, students will move onto the script writing process. We feel that if we give the students a solid foundation for how stories are created and what makes a good story, they will have more success creating their own stories that won't leave the viewer wondering, "Huh? What just happened?" We have made the story development and writing process a transparent and explicit technique.
Day #1
Create a narrative story outline that shows the transformation of a character. This is a pre-production step for a video project. Start with the key vocabulary.Model--Watch Screencast-O-Matic of Jeep Animals Singing
Instructor does a think aloud which models how to learn the key vocabulary.
Watch Cat Commercial.
Student practice to aid in listening and speaking skills and apply knowledge of the key vocabulary. This will take place through student creation of a screencast-o-matic.
Students do a screencast-o-matic to apply their knowledge of the vocabulary termsas they watch the cat commercial. They email their screencast to their instructors. A rubric will be provided. Students will also be provided with sentence starters in order to engage in a professional conversation.
Day #2
Watch Writer's Block
Rewatch the short story about the man who wants to go out and get pizza. This begins at 3:36.
You will work with a partner to fill out the Plot Points Mindmeister. This activity will allow students to apply their new vocabulary knowledge as they begin the writing process. A rubric will be provided. Students will also be provided with sentence starters in order to engage in a professional conversation.
Create your own mind maps at MindMeister
Days #3 - #4
Rewatch "The Lonely Superhero" within "Writer's Block"that starts at 5:40. This has all of the Story Plot Points needed for a "good" story. While watching this video, notice the time and care taken so that each shot is composed well. Every part of the shot is intentional.Now it's time for you to write a script outline as well as a script. You will be shooting this script later this week. The video can be in the form of an advertisement, a public service announcement or a second short film..
Start your own brainstorming process for YOUR story by identifying everything you can about your character. Students will do this by thoroughly answering each of the questions.
1. WHO AM I?
(All the details about your character including name, age, address, relatives, likes, dislikes, hobbies, career, description of physical traits, opinions, beliefs, religion, education, origins, enemies, loved ones, sociological influences, etc.)
2. WHAT TIME IS IT?
(Century, season, year, day, minute, significance of time)
3. WHERE AM I?
(Country, city, neighborhood, home, room, area of room)
4. WHAT SURROUNDS ME?
(Animate and inanimate objects-complete details of environment)
5. WHAT ARE THE GIVEN CIRCUMSTANCES?
(Past, present, future and all of the events)
6. WHAT IS MY RELATIONSHIP?
(Relation to total events, other characters, and to things)
7. WHAT DO I WANT?
(Character's need. The immediate and main objective)
8. WHAT IS IN MY WAY?
(The obstacles which prevent character from getting his/her need)
9. WHAT DO I DO TO GET WHAT I WANT?
(The action: physical and verbal, also-action verbs)
A two column script is the next step. It's purpose is to identify each shot and all audio elements that will be seen and heard in your final video. You will use the Mindmeister you just completed to guide you in the script writing process.
Days #5 - #7
Using an app like Animoto or Viddy, follow your script and shoot your video in sequence. This video will be viewed and critiqued by your classmates and the instructor.CONTENT
Texts:
Students will look at video examples which show good story development:
Tools:
PEDAGOGY
Instructional Strategies
There is no lecture in this lesson plan. Thus, information is gained through a collaborative process utilizing class discussion, and small groups.ASSESSMENT
Student Work Products:Completed Mindmeisters
Screencast Critiques
Script
Video
Assessment:
Speaking and Listening Rubric
Script Rubric
Video Rubric
Cool Tools Review Application Plan
Cool Tools Application Plan
Flower Model for Mini LessonResearch Prompts
Draft of Final Article for Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy
8 Reflection Questions
1. Describe some of the digital literacies that you learned about this week. What did you know about these topics before the week began and how have this week’s experiences contributed to your understanding of these digital literacies?
The Summer Institute in Digital Literacy provided me with the opportunity to work with many new tools and find ways to integrate them into the media literacy and media production courses that I teach. Hiller Spires sessions using Animoto, and Screencast O-Matic, and learning how to use Storify during one of the Digging Deeper sessions led by Rhys Daunic were completely new to me. I found that they were tools that I used throughout the school year that enhanced my instruction as well as engaged students in learning.
I teach video editing in two of my upper level courses and we use industry standard editing software that is time consuming to learn. What I loved about Animoto is that I was able to provide some hands-on projects to my media literacy students—a class which does not include video editing instruction—that allowed them to do a little bit of editing. Prior to attending the Institute, the culminating project was a paper, paste and markers project. Animoto let us take it a step further by providing a tool to produce final projects that were so much more robust than prior iterations of this unit.
See the example from the “Cereal Box Project”
http://animoto.com/play/9YzLCo1KqWhudufa1UEpiQ.
Screencast O-Matic (S.O.M.) was an incredibly helpful tool that I knew very little about. Some of my colleagues do screencasts for their subjects, but the applications they used seemed very cumbersome and platform specific. I used this tool frequently when I needed to have students refer various editing conventions/techniques when using Final Cut Pro to edit their videos. The completed S.O.M. allowed students to follow my instructions while they edited their own video. Most importantly, they were able to stop and start the screencast and follow along at their own pace. The result was a decrease in the need to re-teach a step in the technical process, giving me more time to work with students on how to tell their story.
See the example of the S.O.M. I created for my class this past school year.
The other digital tool that I really enjoyed learning about was Storify. This was brand new to me and because I love using social media, it was fun to be able to leverage an often forbidden resource for educational research. During the first semester following the Institute, Storify was available in my classroom. Second semester, this was not the case. It was locked down by our district IT department because it is classified as social media—which our district does allow students to access from school. With some prodding, I was able to get it opened up in my classroom. Additionally, there is a stigma with using Storify in the classroom that I would like to be able to remove. Several media specialists that I shared this application with were horrified that I would recommend Storify as a research application because they thought students would not find credible resources for their research. I’d like to work on ways to use my leadership skills to gently prod people to understand and accept its value. (Please reference the article that I wrote on Storify for JAAL for more information on how Storify was used in my classroom.)
After learning about various digital tools, I am excited about students having a level playing field for learning and expression of their ideas. Digital tools provide a way to differentiate learning for our students. Because students are plugged in, it makes complete sense to play to their interests. If we allow students to use tools to express through writing or voice (like in Voki) or to curate a collection of materials for a research project using curation tools like Storify and others, instead of writing on index cards and filing (and losing) them, educators have a chance to re-engage students in the learning process.
2. Now that you’ve had this professional development experience, how are you defining “digital literacy?”
We began the professional development with Renee Hobbs discussion about the timeline/historical perspective various literacies such as Information Literacy, Media Literacy and the recent introduction of Digital Literacy. While different eras brought with them different titles, in the end it all boils down to LITERACY. My personal definition of “Digital Literacy” is using digital tools to enhance and engage students in learning. When my son got his first cell phone in 5th or 6th grade, he was looking for the “cool factor” when it came to a phone because the type of phone was a status symbol for him. For his first phone purchased around 2005, the purpose of the phone was to contact my husband or me in case of an emergency. Period. We did not purchase the coolest phone of the day for him. The stated reason behind this was, “a cell phone is a tool NOT a toy.” My son heard this sentence a lot as new phones came and went and I started using this phrase in my classroom this year as well. Most of my students have smart phones, but they do not know how leverage their power. They definitely know how to text and post photos on Instagram, but they don’t know how to type a message into their notes application and share it to me as an email or to a classroom sharing site. I want students to use their digital devices to get beyond the idea of texting their friends on the sneak, and really tap into, and enjoy learning with the help of a tool that fits into their hands.
3. ”What is your personal perspective on digital literacy and how has your definition changed or evolved this week? Where possible, make specific connections to readings, conversations, presentations, or activities that were especially important to the evolution of your definition of digital literacy.
As a high school media literacy and media production teacher who supports literacy efforts across the curriculum in my school, my perspective on digital literacy has evolved regarding how to teach reading comprehension. Having been trained in Reading Apprenticeship, I was excited to read, Talking About Reading as Thinking: Modeling the Hidden Complexities of Online Reading Comprehension. I have worked with Talking To The Text (T4) and Think Alouds with print materials, but knew something was missing with the assumption that students could simply jump from print to digital text without any additional reading strategies to aid with reading comprehension. “A reader’s level of metacognitive awareness about which strategies are best suited to locate, critically evaluate, and synthesize diverse online texts is likely to foster a deeper understanding of the texts they encounter on the Internet” (Coiro, 2011). Students STILL must be able to comprehend challenging text, find useful search engine results, and synthesize their findings regardless of the digital tools that are available to them. Writing and reading competency requirements have not changed. In fact, they’ve become more demanding. As educators, we cannot allow the glitz and glamour of a “cool tool” to substitute for core instruction.
Learning about free and easy video editing programs such as Animoto allowed me to create opportunities for student collaboration students in the creation of media messages. My media classes are generally comprised of 9th through 12th grade students whose ability ranges from low functioning cognitively impaired students to students who take AP and honors courses. I have found that digital media often puts all students on a level playing field. “In the classroom, expertise was distributed across students, the teacher, outside experts, and online resources” (Spires, 2012). In my classroom, I tell the students, “They are to play to each other’s strengths.”
Finally, the steps that are proposed by Hobbs in her article, Digital and Media Literacy: A Plan of Action excite me! My work in media literacy since 1995 has always included “Essential Competencies of Digital and Media Literacy.” Clearly, Hobbs has a passion for the subject and has high hopes for field of Digital and Media Literacy. It is hard not to get excited about the ideas she proposed and wonder what I can do to help fulfill her recommendations beyond what is offered in my school. I want to be part of something bigger with South Redford School District looked at as a model district for others to follow in this area.
4. How do digital literacies affect the way you think about academic content? Describe an example of how some specific academic content is affected by changes in the ways we read, write and think with digital media texts, tools & technologies.
It is important for educators to understand that digital media texts, tools, and technologies are, very simply, additions to an educator’s toolbox. One can have the newest and greatest power tool, but if one does not have the skill to use it, or have a good plan in mind for how to use it, the tool’s effectiveness is limited. According to the TPACK model presented by Harris and Hofer, sound lesson design must include all of the steps that I learned in education courses more than 20 years ago. It must include, “practical pedagogical decisions about the nature of the learning experience, be sequenced appropriately and include activity types to form the learning experience, include formative and summative assessment strategies, and the selection of tools and resources that will help students to benefit from the learning experience being planned” (Harris, J., & Hofer, M., 2009). The use of technology is the last step in the lesson design and it is done to enhance learning. As a media literacy teacher, I looked for ways to add technology into lessons that I had already designed. Specifically, I looked for ways to move away from things like creating a collage with magazine clippings and glue and poster board, to an activity that could achieve the same learning objective with the use of technology instead. And, when technology in our district was functioning, this worked out well. When technology was not functioning, I resorted to the tried and true method of markers, crayons, paper and scissors. In both instances, I was still teaching to the standards and meeting the lesson objectives that were necessary in order to move onto the next unit of learning. Although I use digital tools on a regular basis, the use of digital tools has not changed the content of the course. There are still underlying fundamentals of the course that must be taught. The use of digital tools has enhanced the way the instruction is delivered and the types of projects that are created within and at the end of each unit.
5. How do digital literacies affect teaching practices? What overarching considerations must teachers give, in general, to the interactions of digital literacies and how to teach?
Digital literacies “attempt to bridge a gap by helping teachers and students to connect tools with challenging, meaningful content” (Spires, 2012). “The inclusion of digital and media literacy in formal education can be a bridge across digital divides and cultural enclaves, a way to energize learners and make connections across subject areas, and a means for providing more equal opportunities in digital environments” (Hobbs, 2010). One of the positive aspects of this learning paradigm is that because students are so connected to media, they can now use some of these media tools and this often provides for engagement that had not previously been there with traditional paper and pencil tasks. On the one hand, if done properly, time on task and higher order thinking should increase. On the other hand, if a teacher relies too heavily on the tool without taking into consideration learning standards for the area of study, digital literacy tools can become just another distraction in the classroom. Finally, as we continue to face impoverished students and districts, we need to be careful that we do not broaden the digital divide. Even in 2014, there are many schools that lack up-to-date technology, or even Internet access.
Now, focus on your own pedagogical practice. How will your new understanding of digital literacy affect the way you teach? Describe an example of how you will differently employ a specific teaching practice in your own context as a result of what you learned this week.
My own understanding of digital literacy definitely evolved over the week and my experience at the Institute transformed the way I approached my lesson design in all of my classes. Throughout the year, I purposefully looked for ways to add technology to various lessons to help engage students and to enhance learning. I also loved that many tools made my job a bit easier in the long run especially when working with various skills in video editing. The initial teaching was the same, or maybe even a bit more time consuming because I needed to pre-produce materials/models/exemplars, but in the end, I did not have to do as much individual re-teaching that I normally found myself doing. My approach was to pre-produce a lesson using the digital tool and then post it on my wiki. If a student missed instruction, or needed to review instruction, everything for the lesson was available to them to work with at their own pace. Screencast O-matic is one of the tools that really helped to improve my teaching. By creating mini-editing videos for students to use at their own pace, my instruction was more focused on producing video projects with higher production value. Storify is another example of something that I used with intention. My students LOVED…and I mean LOVED the research project that did on alcohol messages in the media using Storify as a curating tool.
Storify Collaboration with Media Analysis Students
6. During the week, you were introduced to several concerns and promising practices around digital literacy, digital pedagogy, social networking, and student voice that are circulating among communities of educators, librarians, and youth media specialists. From your perspective, what promising practices show the most potential? Which specific concerns are most pressing? What key takeaways will you champion in your own work setting(s) so that together, you and your colleagues can (a) implement promising practices and (b) address issues of concern?
The week provided me with an opportunity to think strategically about how I would handle the benefits and concerns of using digital tools in my classroom in the South Redford School District. What I realized after the Institute was that our district was not meeting needs of 21st century learners because district technology (not the video equipment in my studio) which included Internet, servers, student and teacher workstations in labs and in classrooms were old and could not keep up with demand and an increase in class size. As an example, we were still running Office 2003 when I returned in the Fall and promises for upgrades that had been made were not fulfilled. This caused us to not only not make progress, but actually put us further behind than when we had left school in June 2013. I have a feeling we lost enrollment as well because other schools—particularly charter schools in the area—were advertising a free iPad if students enrolled in their school. While I could write a book on the trials and tribulations of South Redford’s technology woes that we encountered last year, I can whittle down our progress that moved us toward promising practices to a few key steps: 1. Every level of educator in our district complained vehemently to our superintendent and board members about how bad things had become. We wrote letters, we attended board meetings, we brought the topic of technology up in small and large department meetings and finally, in late November, we were heard. Personnel changes took place, progress in terms of hiring outside consultants and brilliant IT happened quickly, and district-wide wireless Internet access was installed. All of these things allowed for the use of technology in the classroom to take place at a basic, yet consistent level. 2. A district technology committee was formed that included K-12 teachers and media specialists. The teachers were not all technology teachers, but teachers who were proven technology users and advocates in their respective buildings. I have not seen the final charge for our committee yet, but I do know that there will be a shifting of media specialist responsibilities, and technology coaches will be hired and in place by September 2014 in order to help teachers plan lessons that include technology activities. 3. Technology purchases are now being made with educationally sound decision making in place. TEACHERS are being consulted on what purchases make sense and which do not because they are just trendy. This is a HUGE change for our district from the past six years.
7. Consider the list of readings assigned for this course. Briefly summarize 1-2 key insights you gleaned from each cluster of readings. How do you see these insights connecting with ideas and experiences shared during the Institute (especially the Keynote and Digging Deeper Sessions)? If you are a classroom teacher, what connections do you see among the readings themselves and to your experiences during the Institute or in your own work setting?
Digital Literacies in Context Both Rushkoff and Turkle bring up issues that I had thought of briefly prior to the Institute, but had not really expanded on in terms of educational implications. Rushkoff says, “We have a completely new relationship to time; we live in an always-on ‘now’ where the priorities of this moment seem to be everything” (Rushkoff, 2013). In his interview on the Cobert Report, Rushkoff elaborated saying, “Digital access causes people to live in perpetual states of emergency” (http://www.rushkoff.com/blog/2013/5/12/present-shock-blows-stephen-colberts-mind-1.html). In Turkle’s Connected But Not Alone presentation, she talked about how digital tools, “Allow us to present ourselves as we want to be. We get to edit. We get to delete” (Turkle, 2012). These two perspectives led me to think about how I need to work more with my students on time and place appropriateness of technology. It is why I also demand that students learn how to have conversations with each other that are face to face. I tell them that when they go for a job interview, more than likely they will not be using text speak to communicate their answers to their prospective employer. This is another reason I invite community leaders into my classroom to hold mock interviews with my students. Students tell me that this is often the most difficult conversation they have ever had. Unfortunately, I think that sometimes it’s the only true conversation they’ve had during that particular day. During the Institute, one of the participants tweeted something that rang home to me. He asked why people were on their social media accounts at the time they were supposed to be learning about digital technology in the Institute. Guilty!! It did make me think more about being centrally focused on the present. I still have a long way to go in that department, but at least I recognize that it is an issue for me.
Generating Questions to Energize Digital Inquiry - “The act of questioning is central to thinking, to storing and communicating knowledge, even to several important types of interaction” (Bowker, 2010). Since 1995, I have taught media literacy courses. The underlying foundation for this course is The Five Key Questions and Concepts of Media Literacy developed by the Center for Media Literacy (http://www.medialit.org/sites/default/files/14B_CCKQPoster+5essays.pdf).
In fact, the questions are so important to what I believe is the successful study of media messages that I had a student paint them as border in my classroom.
By modeling how to ask good questions, and slowly releasing students to ask their own good questions, students are learning to become independent thinkers. One of the questions I had when reading Bowker’s article was, “Is it possible that students have trouble making inferences as a reading comprehension strategy is because they have not had the opportunity to question?” Rhys and Hiller presented a Digging Deeper session where we were using digital tools to delve deeper into various current political issues. Our task was to answer a question they gave to us. I collaborated with a group on the question, “How has the U.S. has contributed to the drug trade in Mexico?” Through our research, we found many good answers to this question. Many. Not one. Because of this type of question, we were able to find a wide variety of perspectives and history on our topic. One way that I can help students to ask more questions is to intentionally embed opportunities for them to ask more questions. I see this happening through group discussions and/or individual research opportunities on various topics. Following Rhys and Hiller's model, students might be provided with one question, and then after their own research, they would be asked to generate questions of their own.
Instructional Strategies – The collection of articles in this section looked at literacy and instruction from different perspectives that all returned to the same basic tenet: Instruction has to be designed with purpose, it needs to include the use of print and digital texts, and it should be engaging to students. One of the questions that came up for me here was, “Why do we need to ‘engage’ our students? This word is used far more now—in the digital age—than it was 10 or 20 years ago.” I believe that there are several answers to this question. First, we have moved beyond the ‘drill and kill’ style of education. Second, I do not believe that students are quite as complacent as they were 20 or more years ago. Third, they are so connected to digital technology and the need to be entertained, that engagement and entertainment can often be synonymous. Finally, engagement leads to a higher level of learning that goes far beyond drill and kill; lessons are planned with intention, lessons are planned with strategies to help with comprehension and understanding, and lessons are planned with the use of technology (like video), to help students broaden their depth of understanding about a topic.
Next Steps - In her white paper, Digital and Media Literacy: A Plan of Action Hobbs states, “Such ubiquitous and easy access to so many information and entertainment choices requires that people acquire new knowledge and skills in order to make wise and responsible decisions. For people to achieve the personal, professional and social benefits of thriving in a digital age, these skills are not optional or desirable—they are the essential elements of digital citizenship” (Hobbs, 2010). I agree with this statement wholeheartedly. In addition, I am ready to jump on the part of the digital and media literacy bandwagon that works on “developing online measures of media and digital literacy to assess learning progression” (Hobbs, 2010). This is an area that is important to me as a media educator, but also because currently 25% of my yearly evaluation (soon to be 40%), relies on showing student growth. I am completely okay with showing pre and post-test data to show growth, but I would like for the assessment measure to be valid. Simply giving the final exam as a pre-test measure and a post-test measure is not enough. I would like to be able to pull from a variety of online measures that have been approved by ISTE to show student growth in my classroom. Sign me up!
8. If you had one more day in the Institute, what would you like to learn more about and why? How will you leverage your professional learning network and your new digital literacies to explore your remaining questions over the coming year?
If I had one more day at the Institute, I would like to spend the day revisiting some of the Cool Tool sessions that I attended that I did not fully understand, or had questions about. Symbaloo, for example, is a tool I would like to use more in my school. I would love to have a Symbaloo posted on our school website that shows images of all of our staff and links to their websites. I could use some more tutoring in that area. Another thing that I would enjoy doing is spending more time talking with the other participants at the Institute. I found that by mid-week, we had all found our partner and table group to talk with, but did not have time to socialize with and learn from the other 50 participants. On the other hand, though, I was exhausted by Friday and was on information overload. Another day at the Institute could have been a mixed bag for a variety of reasons.